Agenda and draft minutes

Nomination for Chair:  Councillor Guest

Proposer Councillor Wyatt-Lowe

Seconder Councillor Durrant

Nomination for Vice Chair: Councillor Bhinder

Proposer Councillor Beauchamp

Seconder Councillor Maddern

The above nominations were unanimously agreed by the Committee Group Members.

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting

Due to the Chair being absent it was agreed the minutes of the previous meeting would be deferred.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of:

Councillor Guest

Councillor Hollinghurst

Eddie Glatter

Kevin Minier

Substitutes

Councillor Bhinder will be Chairing the meeting

Councillor Wyatt-Lowe

Councillor Freeman

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

Councillor England is a Member of HVH

Councillor Maddern is a member of the New Hospital Campaign Group

Councillor Sinha is a practice manager of a GP Surgery

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

There was no public participation.

David Evans, Helen Brown and Trever Fernandes provided the Committee members with a presentation regarding the redevelopment of the WHH Estate.

The Committee were informed that although the final decision has not been made, Currently Option 1 (redevelopment of the Watford site) is looking like the preferred option.

Councillor England acknowledged the CCG have a very difficult job to do but feels that the location of the hospital is key to ensuring the success of the process. He feels Option 4 would provide a better solution. On 30 May 2019 HVH wrote to the Board Members with a suggestion of alternative location on private land which would provide an ideal location, it was disappointing that this wasn’t acknowledged or discussed at the public meeting. 

Helen Brown is excited to meet with Councillor England and discuss these options, but the issue still remains that whatever option is chosen it must be provided within the 350M budget.

Councillor Freeman feels the data they are basing the decision on is bias and feels the results are being used to justify a decision which had already been made.

H.Brown appreciates his opinion but disagrees that this is the case.

Councillor Beauchamp would like to know how much Investment will be made to the Hemel site.

H.Brown confirms that 20M will be invested, 10M of which will come from land sales.

Councillor Bhinder would like it made clearer in future that the 20M investment is made up of these land sales as well as he feels it is misleading not to mention this.

Councillor Wyatt-Lowe acknowledges there has to be investment on the Watford site as it cannot be left to languish as it is, but the views of the people also have to be taken into consideration, they feel the Hemel Hospital is struggling as it is and as the population grows over the next 10 years it will be unable to cope with the increased demand, yet it seems there is no plan to try and take some of the pressure off Watford so that it can perform as it is supposed to. This process has to be more forward thinking and one which addressed local people’s concerns for now and in the future.

D.Evans, explains that this process is about transformation of services and how they can be delivered in the future,  part of “your care your future” is about delivering services in the community which relives some of the pressure of in Hospital Care. There are plans in place for the future and the plans which were presented in the meeting are about taking these things into consideration. 

Councillor Maddern would like to remind committee members that in 2008 the reason given for choosing the Watford site over Hemel Hempstead was the Hill that Hemel Hempstead Hospital is located on and the problems this would provide for the build and for patients, however the proposed Watford development is being built on a hill so this reason now seems redundant.

Councillor Maddern  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

A report was circulated to all Committee Members by Councillor Guest

There were no questions raised

Councillor Guest has circulated the recommendations from the County Health Scrutiny Meeting to all the Committee Members.

There were no issues raised

To agree the Work Programme going forward

Finances of the West Herts Hospital to be added to the Work Programme (Meeting date to be confirmed)